I cant stress enough on how much you need to read...................................

[d2]

I can't stress enough on how much you need to read...................................

the O.R.'s and old reprinted diary's of soldiers during the war. There is so much accidental info in the diary's, especially if they pertain to your area or if the unit the soldier that wrote it just marched through like "We camped at the spring 6 miles north of town" or " camp was set up on the north side of the river west of town " While re-reading a diary ( I re-read stuff all the time ) I came across a place where the soldier said that " We went into camp down the river about a mile from the crossing " Now why in the name of Pete I never noticed this before I have no idea, could be because I ain't real bright, but regardless when I read that passage again it clicked this time and I have a good idea where he was talking about. It will be a couple of days before I can start looking for the camp but now I have a new camp to start looking for. If and when I find it I will try to post pictures. Also if a place was mentioned as being camped at once it was used usually several times. Out of the way places that are not easy to get to are about the only untouched sites to look around here anymore. The known places have been hammered. I will have to go to this place by boat and I am sure it will take a week or two to locate it or give up on it but at least I got a new spot to look for. Those places are out there we just have to get up off the couch and start looking. Cross your fingers for me...d2

 

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[relic nut]

So true d2, this part can be as much fun as the hunt, especially when it pays off. We have stumbled on good ground while going to where we think it is.

 

[Tnmountains]

You nailed it with reading the diaries that are published. That is good research .I found a site once and just thought it was a random site until I read a diary account of what happened then the puzzle fell into place. Great advice!

 

[d2]

I was set to go and look Saturday and Friday night it set into raining and we got 6 inches of rain between dark and daylight of Saturday morning. I was able to go about 2pm and the water was coming up so fast I was afraid I might get flooded in and not be able to get my truck out of the bottoms so I didn't stay and look very long nor did I get to where I wanted to look. I found .22 hulls, 12th and 20th Georgia buttons, a homemade fishing sinker, sorta got my hopes up with that, and a 1930 s penny. I will get back down there when the water settles down a little...d2

 

[Tnmountains]

I was set to go and look Saturday and Friday night it set into raining and we got 6 inches of rain between dark and daylight of Saturday morning. I was able to go about 2pm and the water was coming up so fast I was afraid I might get flooded in and not be able to get my truck out of the bottoms so I didn't stay and look very long nor did I get to where I wanted to look. I found .22 hulls, 12th and 20th Georgia buttons, a homemade fishing sinker, sorta got my hopes up with that, and a 1930 s penny. I will get back down there when the water settles down a little...d2

Love to see those buttons when you have time. Good luck!

 

[Davers]

Good luck d2.

I been kinda depressed on the CW hunts of late.

Don't get me wrong I do still find CW items (Minnies mostly) 80% fired, but I'm def, glad to dig those. & a GS Button once every 2-6 months.

It's 20x harder to find a Minnie these days than it was 15 years ago , In my area Only Development opens up new sites that have already been hunted by the Nite-Hawks, but the Dozier s usually pull up what once was too deep or off limits.
Heck most are still off limits once construction begins.

I thought back in 99 that most relics were "Hunted Out" Now I hate to Say I truly think only a very small percentage is left here in the Cobb, Paulding, Fulton , (Atlanta) Dekalb Counties, that I frequent. S Bartow as well.

IMO Western Theater Relics Should be Worth more than their Va, Counterparts. As they are MUCH more Scarce (At least these day's).

The CW relic "Boom time" is over IMO.

These day's to find even a good handful of Minnies or other Quality relics takes Great research------d2, very hard work & a good bit of luck.

IT also helps to know certain people (that I don't).

You gotta love History & The CW To go through all that we Hardcore Relic Hunters Go through these day's for a Fired Bullet worth maybe $1, or a Nice dropped 3 ringer worth maybe $3,,,Man I do my "Happy Dance" & then Climb the nearest tree when I dig that $5-$10 GS Eagle Button that I would not take $100 for Because I know exactly where it was dug & What Units were in the area.
To me a percussion cap that I dug Is a Priceless Relic.
I'm def, an OBSESSED CW Relic Hunter.

Sorry for ranting on you thread d2. This Humidity & Heat & Bug's have really got me down lately.

Good luck finding your Site & thanks for the Tip on finding new sites.

Davers

YES I'm Def, ENVIOUS of those who live in Virginia but Still love Em.

 

[relic nut]

Hey Davers, I hear what you're saying and feel your pain. I live and hunt in VA and agree that we live in a state that is great for CW relics, but it is also targeted very heavy and has been hit hard for years by the "Nite Hawks". These guys have made it tuff to get a new permission. I haven't been hunting near as long as a lot of you guys but I think there is still good stuff out there. May not be as much but the technology is better and our research capabilities are much better than the past. As far as what relics are worth, that is in the eye of the beholder. The harder they get to find the more rewarding it will be. This is why we need to do our best to save what's left. We have talked with one of the old timers here in our town and have learned a lot from him, he is in his 80s I ask him if he still dug and he said " only in my mind, only in my mind " He had a collection that would make you drool but never owned a pinpointer. 20 years from now the new guys will invey us! HH RN

 

[Tnmountains]

I am out of Chattanooga and hunt Tn.Ga and Ala. It is very hard now days with out net working and research but that does not mean it has not been swept up already. Big problem here is flooding over the years of great sites. You dig two feet down and get a Budweiser can. It can get depressing. I was lucky to live on a battlefield that had never been hunted and dug a lot whenI started. I can still walk out my door and snag a bullet every now and then. Its tough and nothing more rewarding then a new site and to dig that enfield or minnie.
I have been water hunting more and more in the summer droughts.
HH

 

[d2]

Gent's let me clarify my statement on the 12th and 20th Georgia buttons. Here where I hunt my friends and I call shotgun brass 12th and 20th or 16th Georgia buttons depending upon the gauge. If I had found a Georgia button, other than a shotgun hull, y'all would have heard me holler all the way over there. Sorry if I confused anyone...d2

 

[Tnmountains]

Gent's let me clarify my statement on the 12th and 20th Georgia buttons. Here where I hunt my friends and I call shotgun brass 12th and 20th or 16th Georgia buttons depending upon the gauge. If I had found a Georgia button, other than a shotgun hull, y'all would have heard me holler all the way over there. Sorry if I confused anyone...d2

I feel so dumb!!!! I say the same thing. " Look another Ga button" Haha ! Brass hull. Can you say hook line and sinker? I did dig an Eagle button last Sunday and one fired enfield.

 

[d2]

The water is starting to fall a little so I may try and make down to the river in a day or two. I was feeling it the other day when I was down there. I will let y'all know, thanks for the interest...d2

 

[d2]

While reading the O.R.s a few years ago my detecting partner said he thought he knew where a large camp should be. We struck out and found the owner, told him what we were after and he gave us permission to look in his FIELDS!!!!!!! Usually the camps we are searching for are in thickets, this was a sweet change. The first week we found better than a hundred bullets a piece and probably 20 buttons each. The camp was more than a mile long and around some springs so they were used by both sides. This was a large yankee camp because we were running them out of South Arkansas and there was stuff everywhere. Because of the springs we found CS and US bullets and buttons. My partner found a script I and we found 24 (I think) different types of bullets. I found a US belt plate that still has leather on the back, an officers sword that was drove down into the ground, being used as a picket pin I think. Most of the buttons were in terrible shape because of fertilizer being put on the fields but some were in amazingly decent shape. Headed out to the river as soon as my partner calls. Pictures of new stuff I hope before dark...d2

 

[Davers]

Hey Davers, I hear what you're saying and feel your pain. I live and hunt in VA and agree that we live in a state that is great for CW relics, but it is also targeted very heavy and has been hit hard for years by the "Nite Hawks". These guys have made it tuff to get a new permission. I haven't been hunting near as long as a lot of you guys but I think there is still good stuff out there. May not be as much but the technology is better and our research capabilities are much better than the past. As far as what relics are worth, that is in the eye of the beholder. The harder they get to find the more rewarding it will be. This is why we need to do our best to save what's left. We have talked with one of the old timers here in our town and have learned a lot from him, he is in his 80s I ask him if he still dug and he said " only in my mind, only in my mind " He had a collection that would make you drool but never owned a pinpointer. 20 years from now the new guys will invey us! HH RN

Yeah you def, have the CW Hunting "Bullseye" there in Va, & also agree in 20 years we will be glad we hunted while we could.

Also got a 80 year old "OR" (original hunter) in our club, a super nice guy talked about hunting places that have been developed for almost 50 years now, & all the "Slicks" (Enfields) he would find with the box wood still in the base, and the many cartridges he dug with paper/ gut still attached & numerous Bullets in Wood. I can only dream of those days.

Every time I get down and think "it's all gone'' ,I look at a Satellite picture of my area & other parts of the US & think "wow so much land, there has GOT to be relics & coins to be found.

Good luck
Davers

 

[Davers]

I am out of Chattanooga and hunt Tn.Ga and Ala. It is very hard now days with out net working and research but that does not mean it has not been swept up already. Big problem here is flooding over the years of great sites. You dig two feet down and get a Budweiser can. It can get depressing. I was lucky to live on a battlefield that had never been hunted and dug a lot whenI started. I can still walk out my door and snag a bullet every now and then. Its tough and nothing more rewarding then a new site and to dig that enfield or minnie.
I have been water hunting more and more in the summer droughts.
HH

Yeah many places here where I can think there must be 10+ feet of Sediment & modern trash that covers a-lot of low lying CW areas in & around Atlanta.


Was gonna inquire about 'how the water hunting was going.'?
Hope your doing well.
Davers..

 

[Tnmountains]

I still find an enfield with a wood plug every now and then and last year found a bullet in a chunk of cedar. But it is getting more rare. Water has dropped here but still real muddy .

We all dream of finding that large virgin site on an old spring.
I think a spring is the single most important thing to look for around here.
Hope you all are having good hunts!

 

[Diver_Down]

I'll add my 2 cents rather late to the thread, but I always assumed that part of researching was to seek out information that was as close to first hand accounts as possible. In some cases, false information is perpetuated throughout history. With the passing of time, it only cements the false information as fact. Case in point is with the Second Seminole War. There are maps of known forts. Some of these "forts" were nothing more than an organized camp site. A specific fort has had it's location mislabeled through the years. It's "known location" is currently located on private land of a large commercial farmer. It's not there and never was. Through diligent research, I tracked down the journal of the soldier who was "The Mapmaker" during the SSW. In his journal, he details the exact location of the fort in question. It was in plain English and I don't understand how the known maps could be so wrong in pinpointing the location.

I've been methodically peeling back the layers of the site for years and still have not reached the heart of the site. The property has been in the same family since and it has never been developed. They had used it as pasture, but keeping the onslaught of vegetation at bay became too much work so they use the old pasture land for hunting hogs and turkey. I hope I live long enough.

 

[d2]

Good deal. That is why I read and re-read the reports and such...d2

 

[Tnmountains]

Robert E Lee was with the Corps of Engineers and a map maker. The best book for me so far is the very large"The Official Military Atlas of The Civil War". Used with Google earth it is deadly. Member Hutsite digger showed me a few extra tips. I live on a Civil War Battlefield. Many wounded and killed not on any maps ...but is in many diaries. It was a virgin site but not anymore
Happy Hunting!